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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. clip — a video
  4. band — a music group
  5. band — a ring
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. root — the cause
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. root — of a plant
  15. chest — a box
  16. drill — a practice
  17. roll — a list
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bore — to drill
  20. root — of a word
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. drill — army training
  23. roll — a cake
  24. drill — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com